Geological processes in the British Isles

The landscape of the British Isles has undergone dramatic changes during the history of...

The landscape of the British Isles has undergone dramatic changes during the history of the Earth, from shallow sea to desert to the familiar terrain of the 21st century. In this unit you will explore the processes that have shaped the British landscape over time, gaining insight into the geological evolution of the entire planet.

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

summarise and identify descriptions of the principal features of the main lithotectonic units of the British Isles, namely the Precambrian Basement, the Caledonian Orogenic Belt, the Variscan Orogenic Belt, the Older Cover and the Younger Cover;

identify any of the main terranes making up the British Isles on the basis of a description of its age, main rock types, dominant structures, and plate tectonic setting.

Study this free course

Enrol to access the full course, get recognition for the skills you learn and track your progress. Make your learning visible!

Geological processes in the British Isles

Introduction

This unit provides an introduction to the processes that have shaped the evolution of the Earth, with many detailed examples from the geology of the British Isles. These are studied through the use of the British Geological Survey bedrock geology maps. This unit also helps to give a theoretical foundation for any students considering the residential school for the SXR260 The geological history of the British Isles course, based in the north of England.

This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from The geographical history of the British Isles (SXR260) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Part of these collections

Comments

Copyright & revisions

Publication details

Originally published: Wednesday, 11th May 2011

Copyright information

Creative-Commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence. However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions. Full details can be found in the Acknowledgements section.

This site has Copy Reuse Tracking enabled - see our FAQs for more information.

Feeds

If you enjoyed this, why not follow a feed to find out when we have new things like it? Choose an RSS feed from the list below. (Don't know what to do with RSS feeds?)
Remember, you can also make your own, personal feed by combining tags from around OpenLearn.

The Open University

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.